Fans of Hollywood camp are likely familiar with the bizarre, terrible 1971 TV special “Mooch Goes to Hollywood.” The film was directed by prolific character actor Richard Erdman, who appeared in films like “Stalag 17” and “Francis in the Navy,” but who only directed a few times, including two episodes of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and the movie “The Brothers O’Toole.” “Mooch Goes to Hollywood” seemed to be made as a last-ditch effort to get work for some famous Hollywood legends after their careers had kind of hit the skids. Comedy legend Jim Backus co-wrote the screenplay to “Mooch Goes to Hollywood” with Jerry Devine, and he also appears in the film as himself. Indeed, all of the Hollywood legends play themselves in this movie.
The film is a literal shaggy dog story, following a dog named Mooch (Higgins from “Benji” and “Petticoat Junction”) who aims to become a famous animal performer in movies. Mooch speaks in her own head, with a voice provided by Lynne Lipton, but many of her antics are narrated by Zsa Zsa Gabor, whom she meets on her first day in Tinselstown and receives advice from. The film is meant to be light, funny, and amusing to little, little kids. Which is bizarre, because little kids wouldn’t recognize actors like Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jim Backus, James Darren, Phyllis Diller, Jill St. John, and, most startling, horror legend Vincent Price.
Price’s role comes near the beginning of the film, when Mooch sees him exiting the Brown Derby. She jumps into his car, and Price is delighted to have a heckin’ good pupper in the front seat with him. He drives around Beverly Hills for a bit before taking Mooch to the vet. It is there that they will part ways.
Look out Hollywood, here comes Mooch!
Following the Vincent Price sequence, Mooch, walking down the Boulevard, meets some zonked-out hippies and gives a brief greeting to Phyllis Diller. In a bizarre adult twist, Mooch also wanders into the Playboy Club in Downtown L.A. and tries to jumpstart her career as a Playboy Bunny. There is a dog burlesque sequence wherein the dog, wearing a bikini, dances to human hooting for her to “take it off!” After that, she meets James Darren, who you know from either “Gidget” or “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” depending on your age.
Mooch treks all over L.A. before eventually coming into the company of Jim Backus, who is busy recording dialogue for “Mr. Magoo.” As it so happens, Backus needs a dog for an upcoming show, and Mooch is just right for the role. She has been discovered! Backus takes her home to a garden party where all the movie’s big stars congregate together. The garden party feels like something Backus had already arranged and decided to bring cameras to, hoping to turn it into a movie someday. Everyone seems to be well out of character.
The party also includes cameos from some very sleepy celebrities, including Rose Marie (who feeds Mooch a potato chip out of her purse), Dick Martin (who gets to say “Say goodnight, Vincent” to Vincent Price in a reference to his famed “Laugh-In” benediction), Darren McGavin, Edward G. Robinson, Cesar Romero, and Mickey Rooney. Dean Martin has a cameo as well, but only has one line of dialogue on the soundtrack.
Mooch is ultimately adopted by the vet she saw earlier in the movie, played by regular working actor James Harding.
What the heck is this thing?
“Mooch Goes to Hollywood” is one of those strange cultural artifacts that is difficult to explain to anyone under the age of 50. There was a tendency among TV networks to gather as many celebrities as they could in one place and hope that their scant interactions would thrill an aging audience. Some Gen-Xers will be able to tell you all about “Battle of the Network Stars,” from its original 1976 to 1988 run, in which teams of celebrities — each group from one of the “big three” networks — competed in sporting events. “Battle of the Network Stars” is the grandparent of all the celebrity reality shows you see on TV today. “Mooch Goes to Hollywood” came from that ethos. Hire everyone and parade them in front of a camera. It’s for people who might have seen the 1970 film “The Phynx,” which … well, be sure to watch the final scenes from “The Phynx” sometime. Every 1930s star is hauled out of mothballs for an appearance. Your brain will kind of melt.
I recall a screening of “Mooch Goes to Hollywood” held in Los Angeles in 2019, which served as the film’s theatrical premiere. The film was, by then, notorious enough to attract a pretty passionate cult audience. It was projected on 16mm film. These days, curious explorers of pop culture detritus can find it in low-quality rips on YouTube.
“Mooch Goes to Hollywood” is the only film that Jim Backus ever wrote, although he is also credited as one of the storywriters for the 1954 short “Destination Magoo,” but that’s it.
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